But He's My Man
by preposterousnotion
Summary: Follow on to 'But She's My Girl'. Quinn is torn between who she has always wanted to be and who she wants always. But has she made the right decision?


But He's My Man

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Glee. I do not own 'One Day More' by Matthew Morrison or 'Just the Way You Are' by Bruno Mars.

AN: For naa2bmmummy.

Follow on from 'But She's My Girl'. Mostly AU but picks up on some of the parts of 'Britney/Brittany', only very slightly though, because I changed it to put a Quill spin on it.

Let me know what you think!

Ruby

* * *

"Will?"

"Don't hang up", he pleaded, but she wasn't going to anyway, it had been too long since she had heard his beautiful voice, talking directly to her.

And he started singing, all his emotion in the words.

_"There are days we want, always to remember_

_And there are days we try to forget_

_And there are times, they tell me, when the load gets to heavy_

_But we haven't found one yet._

_You are my life, my strength, my joy, my all._

_What I ask is small..._

_Just let me love you one day more_

_And then tomorrow night, when the stars shine bright_

_I know what I'll be wishing for; I want another, one day more._

_That's all I'll ask you for._

_People come and go, prospects will suprise us._

_Then as fast- they'll all disappear._

_Whatever tricks we fall for, we're immune to them all_

_For we have a life right here_

_As far as partners go, I'm yours although_

_What I bring is small..._

_I wanna love you one day more._

_And then tomorrow night, when the stars shine bright_

_I know what I'll be wishing for; I want another, one day more._

_That's all I'll ask you for._

_Dawn into sunset. Year after year._

_Just let me love you one day more._

_And then tomorrow night when the stars shine bright_

_I know what I'll be wishing for-_

_I'll want another, and another, and another, and another, and another day, and another day, and another day, and another day._

_How could I wish for more?_

_That's all I'll ask you for."_

She swallowed.

"Will- think about what you're asking me for! Right now I have to think about me- because it's never been about me before! I have everything I've ever wanted- right?"

"You tell me", he said quietly.

"I have", she confirmed, but even to her it sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "I have everything I've ever wanted".

"Can you just do one thing for me?" he asked, and her heart leapt at the defeated tone in his voice.

"I would do anything for you, darling", she said seriously.

"Would you come down and open the front door? I just need to say goodbye".

She gulped. "You're at the front door?"

She didn't know if she'd be able to hold it together if she saw him. It was much easier to pretend when he couldn't see her face and she couldn't see his.

"I... I'll be down in five seconds".

He breathed a sigh of relief and she hung up the phone, laying it on her bed slowly.

And he was standing there, his hands in his pockets and she just knew that the smile on his face was fake, and it hurt her to know that he was trying to prove that he loved her enough to let her go.

"You can come in", she said quietly, "my mum's out for the whole night".

He made no move, and she took a step towards him.

"I think we should say goodbye by doing what we do best", she said after a while.

"We can't Quinn", he replied automatically.

"Yes we can- come on".

She knew it wasn't going to be hard to convince him. HIs hands fisted at his sides.

She reached for his hand, and failed to stop herself meeting his furtive glance at electricity that passed between their fingertips.

She led him gently inside, and what wasn't said was louder than what was.

"Did you and Sam..?"

"_No_".

He kissed her softly, and she forgot everything, and when she woke up in the morning wondering whether she had made the right decision, he was gone.

* * *

She rang Mercedes.

"Quinn?"

Her tone suggested that she'd thought that her rediscovered social status would cause an end to their friendship.

"Hey".

"What's wrong?"

"Do you want to go shopping?"

"Always".

* * *

She saw him outside the coffee shop, talking and laughing with a woman.

She felt like someone had punched her in the stomach.

**Quinn: Who's that? x**

_Will: My cousin. ily._

She sat down heavily on the corner of the low wall.

He wasn't supposed to still love her. Not after she was trying to pull away from him, not when him loving her was as dangerous to his career as... keeping a lion in his classroom.

"Quinn? Why are you crying girl?

"Because I can't be two people at once", she said shakily.

"Are you quitting glee?" Mercedes sat beside her, frowning in disapproval.

"No... If I can't sing and dance then there is no break".

"Okay... Is this your way of telling me we can't be friends anymore?- cos I kinda figured..."

"We can still be friends", Quinn said slowly, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Will notice her, and look away quickly, pretending he hadn't noticed she was there.

"Then what is it?" Mercedes questioned, confused. "Surely you have everything you want? The popularity, the status, the _power_..."

Her tone was slightly critical, and Quinn felt retaliation build up inside her.

"It is everything I have always wanted", she almost snapped. "I shouldn't give up on the opportunity to be who I've always wanted to be. I've lost too much. I can't lose my identity as well".

"Okay. Don't hate me- but- you're identity? Do you really want to be known as super bitch? Super bitch only has pretend friends."

"Not super bitch", Quinn countered, "But the most popular girl in school".

"Erm... you make them kinda mean the same thing", Mercedes pointed out carefully.

Quinn was silent, sullen.

"What do you mean by pretend friends?" She asked.

"Well, think about it. In a few years time, you won't remember half of those cheerios' names. But you will remember how everyone in glee club sang for you and Finn, you will remember Schue's crazy glee assigments. You'll remember..."

"I get it", Quinn interrupted, because it hurt too much.

"They only like you because that's like a ticket to sharing the benefits of your popularity... The first dibs on the football team... the first dibs on your exes..."

Quinn looked alarmed, not ready to share Will with anyone yet.

"That's not true".

"Is this what this is about? I thought _you _dumped Sam?"

Ah. She had forgotten about Sam. Of course she meant Sam and not their glee coach.

Quinn stopped trying to ignore Will across the street, sipping daintily at his coffee. Even from that distance she could see he looked tired and faintly gloomy.

"But what if what makes me happy, could potentially ruin somebody else's life?"

Mercedes raised her eyebrows.

_Quinn: ily2._

"I better take this", Quinn said, and Mercedes nodded, watching her carefully.

She made a mental note not to say his name.

"Quinn? What are you doing?"

"I'm just shopping with Mercedes".

He made an exasperated noise. "You know what I mean! You're messing with my head here! You can't just walk away and then say something like that!"

"You're the one who said you love me!"

She tried to resist the urge to look over to him.

"That's not going to change, Quinn, but I can't back off if you feel the same way!"

"I'm not worth the risk", she exclaimed.

He stopped yelling, his voice still gruff but more gentle. "Is that what this is about?"

"I'm not worth the risk", she repeated.

"I thought over the summer your self confidence, like, doubled? Quinn, is that what this is about? Are you going down the cheerio road again because it gives you confidence to forget that you still haven't conquered all those self esteem issues?"

"Stop psychoanalysing me! You don't have the right!"

"Quinn... I would give up everything for you. And that's the truth. I've made my mistakes in the past. I'm not going to make mistakes again. And it would be the biggest mistake ever if I was to walk away from you. Even if that means waiting for you- or anything".

"I don't deserve you", she said, but not as convincingly this time.

"I'm going to give you some breathing space", he decided, after a pregnant pause.

She hung up, turning her tear stained face to Mercedes.

Mercedes jerked her thumb in the direction of Will across the street.

"Your two's kids would be the most beautiful people on the planet", she commented, and hugged her friend tightly.

* * *

At home, she sat on her bed just staring at the cheerios uniform hanging ready on her closet door handle. And he was right. Being a cheerio made her feel all kinds of confident that just hid the fact that she hadn't been comfortable in her own body ever since she found out she had been pregnant.

Except when she was with Will.

She had actually felt jealous when she had seen him with someone else. If she had accepted her decision, she wouldn't have felt jealous.

She wanted to be able to call him hers.

She didn't wear her cheerios uniform to school on Monday.

She was going back. She was going back to the summer. She was going back to Will.

* * *

"Blondie?"

She swung round, her heart in the throat at the severe tone behind her.

"Coach Sylvester".

"I'm going to pretend I haven't seen you Fabray. Look. We both know the cheerios are unbeatable now you are back in the passenger seat, not the driving seat, Fabray, because let's face it you would all crumble and burn without yours truly".

Quinn just nodded.

"If the choice is between you and boobs mcgee, I choose you. But if you aren't in your cheerios uniform tomorrow the choice will be made for me. Now go, because I can see William Schuester and his hair is quite literally crying out for me to criticise it".

She saw Will frown questioningly at her out of the corner of her eye.

She turned to her locker.

"So what did he do?"

"Mercedes? Hi. What did who do?"

"Schue! What did he do wrong so he tried so hard to get back with you?"

"He didn't do anything wrong", Quinn replied quietly.

"Oh?"

"You can't say anything", Quinn hissed, "That's the reason I had to walk away...We...Us... It's too dangerous for him".

"And now?" Mercedes probed, looking pointedly at her lack of cheerios uniform.

"I have to change for him", she murmured.

"You know him better than I do", Mercedes said after a while.

Quinn gave her a weak smile.

"Would you mind helping me hang posters for the cat shelter later?"

"Sure... The cat shelter?"

"Yeah! I'm starting volunteering there!"

The bell rang and Quinn didn't notice Mercedes' strange expression of disbelief.

* * *

**Will's pov**

If he couldn't ever be good enough for Emma, how on earth was he going to be good enough for Quinn? He was worried he'd overdone it a little bit on the 'pining for Emma' front, but at least it offered a distraction from Quinn.

He couldn't believe he'd even gone as far as to wonder whether he should have ever left Terri in the first place.

Because he knew how to be good enough for her. All he had to do was stay out of the way and not leave the dirty dishes on the side for more than 20 minutes. And not touch her.

He was so jealous of Carl and Emma. He was so jealous even of Finn and Rachel.

And he was angry that he had managed to be carried away by 'Britney Fever', because now he couldn't stop picturing Quinn in various Britney outfits, which only led to picturing several different scenarios in which he totally negated the allowance of breathing space that he was trying to give her.

* * *

**Back to Quinn's pov**

They filed into glee later and Quinn hadn't seen Mercedes all day, and had been mainly avoiding seeing anyone really, so as not to distract her from her ambition to become a better person to be good enough for Will Schuester.

"Quinn? Can I have a word?"

Quinn frowned, but the others were too busy listening to Mercedes' long and detailed story of a fight in the cafeteria at lunch time.

"Quinn, why aren't you in your cheerios uniform?"

"I don't know".

She bit her lip hard to stop herself from leaning forward to kiss him. The image of him in their 'Toxic' performance, with his hat tilted sexily flashed through her mind.

"Quinn?"

"Because you deserve so much better than just a bitchy head cheerleader and if you really want me then I have to be so much better".

The words all came out jumbled together and she took a deep breath, looking down at her feet.

"Mr Schuester? I have something I would like to share with the group", Rachel Berry spoke up, and Quinn felt the comforting warmth of Will's closeness leave her as he took a hasty step away from her.

"That's great Rachel! But, I need to sing something first... If that's alright..."

Quinn turned away to sit down, aware that they had come a bit too close to forgetting that the entire glee club were in the room with them.

_Oh her eyes, her eyes_  
_Make the stars look like they're not shining_  
_Her hair, her hair_  
_Falls perfectly without her trying_

_She's so beautiful_  
_And I tell her every day_

_Yeah I know, I know_  
_When I compliment her_  
_She won't believe me_  
_And it's so, it's so_  
_Sad to think she don't see what I see_

_But every time she asks me do I look okay_  
_I say_

_When I see your face_  
_There's not a thing that I would change_  
_Cause you're amazing_  
_Just the way you are_  
_And when you smile,_  
_The whole world stops and stares for awhile_  
_Cause girl you're amazing_  
_Just the way you are_

_Her nails, her nails_  
_I could kiss them all day if she'd let me_  
_Her laugh, her laugh_  
_She hates but I think its so sexy_

_She's so beautiful_  
_And I tell her every day_

_Oh you know, you know, you know_  
_Id never ask you to change_  
_If perfect is what you're searching for_  
_Then just stay the same_

_So don't even bother asking_  
_If you look okay_  
_You know I say_

_When I see your face_  
_There's not a thing that I would change_  
_Cause you're amazing_  
_Just the way you are_  
_And when you smile,_  
_The whole world stops and stares for awhile_  
_Cause girl you're amazing_  
_Just the way you are_

_The way you are_  
_The way you are_  
_Girl you're amazing_  
_Just the way you are_

_When I see your face_  
_There's not a thing that I would change_  
_Cause you're amazing_  
_Just the way you are_  
_And when you smile,_  
_The whole world stops and stares for awhile_  
_Cause girl you're amazing_  
_Just the way you are_

Mercedes grinned slyly at her, and she beamed back.

And Rachel Berry had got up and was performing, but Quinn couldn't hear what she was singing. She was noticing that her man hadn't shaved, she was noticing that her man sat on his chair not even looking pretending to look in Rachel's direction, staring into the distance kind of helplessly.

And she loved him too much to let him go.

He was sat in exactly the same position as the others left.

"Will".

He looked up slowly.

"Hey".

She dragged a chair to sit beside him.

"I love you", she murmured eventually.

"I know", he replied. "I will wait for you. But don't change for me... We were great just the way we were".

"Will, I... I don't have anything if I don't have you".

He turned in his seat to face her.

"Are you saying..?"

She nodded.

"I'm saying I need you. I'm saying I love you. I'm saying the best part of me is you..."

He leaned forward to kiss her lightly.

And with that it was as though the first week back at school had never happened.

"I'm yours", he said softly, and it had been too long since she had seen that gorgeous smile.

"You're mine", she grinned, pulling on his tie to claim his lips.

* * *

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